As the Group of 20 summit wrapped up on Saturday in Hamburg, Germany, some attendees stepped up to address journalists.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel stood beside French President Emmanuel Macron, answering questions.
More World News Videos
- Video duration
- 01:36
US isolated on climate at G20 summit
US isolated on climate at G20 summit
In a rare public admission of disagreement, leaders from the world's leading economies broke with US President Donald Trump on climate policy.
Up Next
Trump jnr met Russian for dirt on Clinton
- Video duration
- 01:17
- Video duration
- 01:17
Trump jnr met Russian for dirt on Clinton
Trump jnr met Russian for dirt on Clinton
The New York Times reported on Sunday that President Donald Trump's son met with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign after being promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
Up Next
Uhlmann: Trump 'uneasy, lonely, awkward' at G20
- Video duration
- 02:17
- Video duration
- 02:17
Uhlmann: Trump 'uneasy, lonely, awkward' ...
Uhlmann: Trump 'uneasy, lonely, awkward' at G20
Scathing, searing and brutal were just a few of the adjectives flying around social media on Sunday following an eloquent takedown of Donald Trump by ABC political editor Chris Uhlmann.
Up Next
Victory declared in Mosul
- Video duration
- 00:29
- Video duration
- 00:29
Victory declared in Mosul
Victory declared in Mosul
Iraqi special forces planted a flag on the Tigris River bank after the country's prime minister arrived to declare victory over the Islamic State group.
Up Next
Iraqi forces celebrate as bombs detonate
- Video duration
- 01:03
- Video duration
- 01:03
Iraqi forces celebrate as bombs detonate
Iraqi forces celebrate as bombs detonate
Anticipating an imminent victory against IS, Iraqi forces celebrate amid air raids on suspected IS targets in Mosul.
Up Next
Turnbull and Macron meet in Paris
- Video duration
- 01:45
- Video duration
- 01:45
Turnbull and Macron meet in Paris
Turnbull and Macron meet in Paris
Discussing the submarine building project and a shared military history, Malcolm Turnbull meets French President Emmanuel Macron.
Up Next
Trump talks joint cybersecurity unit with Putin
- Video duration
- 01:51
- Video duration
- 01:51
Trump talks joint cybersecurity unit with ...
Trump talks joint cybersecurity unit with Putin
US President Donald Trump has discussed forming a cyber security unit with Russian President Vladimir Putin to guard against election hacking.
Up Next
Richie Porte crashes out of Tour de France
- Video duration
- 01:39
- Video duration
- 01:39
Richie Porte crashes out of Tour de ...
Richie Porte crashes out of Tour de France
Aussie star in hospital after a frightening high-speed fall on the descent from Mont du Chat.
US isolated on climate at G20 summit
In a rare public admission of disagreement, leaders from the world's leading economies broke with US President Donald Trump on climate policy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin used his time to suggest that US President Donald Trump "agreed" that Russia had not meddled in the 2016 US election.
Leaders from Turkey, Britain, Canada and Spain also stepped up to the microphone.
Conspicuously absent: Donald Trump. He offered no formal remarks at the program's end and took no questions from the media.
The White House did not respond to an email asking for comment on President Trump's absence.
Since 2008, 11 other G20 summits have been held and the US president has spoken to reporters at the end of each one, according to a review of White House archives.
In St Petersburg, Barack Obama discussed a way forward on Syria. In Antalya, Turkey, he spoke about the terrorist attacks in Paris and international efforts to curb extremism. At his last G20 summit, Obama made a case for the US bank bailouts, saying "we came to Seoul to continue the work that has taken us from London to Pittsburgh to Toronto. We worked together to pull the global economy back from catastrophe. To avoid the old cycles of boom and bust that led to that crisis, we committed ourselves to growth that is balanced and sustained, including financial reform and fiscal responsibility. The actions we took were not always easy or popular. But they were necessary."
George W. Bush also spoke at the end of the inaugural G20 meeting in Washington. In his comments, he defended the government bailout of foundering banks.
Not every leader attending the G20 summit addresses the media, but many do. As Heribert Dieter, a senior fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, explained, leaders often use this time to defend key decisions and offer up their narrative of what happened.
"Leaders seem to have a strong interest to tell their story," he wrote in an email. "Of course, they are doing that for domestic consumption," he added, not for an international audience.
Dieter suggested that Trump's decision not to address the media fits in with a broader theme of the G20: Trump's intentional, defiant isolation from the rest of the world.
"Trump seems to think that his voters are not interested in international conferences anyway," Dieter writes. Indeed, at the normally staid G20, Trump clashed with world leaders on issues such as climate change and trade.
"The discussions are very difficult. I don't want to talk around that," Merkel said. She also rejected Trump's scepticism about the value of sweeping free-trade agreements and suggested that we need trade that is free and fair. European leaders have warned of a "trade war" if the Trump administration moves to change rules about importing steel.
Washington Post